I keep opening TFSafari hoping for some gap-fillers. Just need to sort out those inner thighs.

 

Hopefully my Amazon preorder ships soon.

 

It requires a bit of parts-forming with the tailfin, but I prefer this arrangement with the cockpit pointing up. It removes it being so obvious between the legs, and gives some symmetry with his best mate!

 

I've been scrutinizing this mold trying to work out it's remold possibilities.

First off- for Needlenose- there are only 3 colours for the base cast plastic- dark blue, light grey, and purple. Both Targetmasters are cast in purple, with the black one being smothered in paint.

The wings are held on with simple friction nubs forming a hinge- so lots of wing remolds possible.

The cockpit assembly is also only held on with a friction nub forming a hinge. Interestingly the cockpit is actually two pieces (blue) screwed together- the top piece comprising the cockpit, little forward wings/ailerons, and the front part of the jet fuselage where it joins the rest of the plane. If there is another remold for this piece- it is going to a very large piece- I'm not sure how much space a metal mold will have for variations- unless it is a mold that just does all the cockpits and nothing else.

Underneath all that red paint on the cockpit there is cockpit detailing that is definitely not that of a F16. So possibly a clue there for a remold? Looks kinda like a Panavia Tornado- but I'm sure someone on here will be able to identify it better than me.

 

Getting ready for recreation of the cover of Marvel UK 229:

 

Is that screwhole 5mm post compatible? Could you store the tailfin there? Or maybe can it friction fit into the cavity the hinge normally occupies about (rough guess) an inch below that screw?
Edit: I forgot I can draw on screenshots. These are the spots I mean.

 

Screwhole is too small and the cavity too wide

 

Shucks. I'm sure I'll finagle something once I have my own copy in hand.

 

maybe you could enlarge the screwhole to fit the tailfin peg, but i think it wont be deep enough to get a good grip, plus it might look odd with the tailfin so high in the back

 

Completely off-topic, but the uselessness of that ball and chain for some reason reminded me of Godzilla 2000, when the JSDF anchors the alien spacecraft to a bridge with an "indestructible cable". The moment the soldier announced that, the immediate thought that crossed my mind was "Yeah, but is the bridge indestructible? You dingus."

Sure enough, the very next scene with the alien craft has it fly off practically unimpeded, with the cable still trailing off it, and in the process, shearing through the bridge and therefore destroying one of the major egresses from Tokyo in advance of the big Kaiju battle...

 

I'll probably remove the side fins on his nose and tailfin, theyre probably there as pretooling or something but arent accurate to the actual g1 look the figure try to pull off.

 

That would be a good candidate for 3P upgrade kits. I wonder what else they could do?

 

flat weapons like spinister's?, better made modern targetmasters for both?

 

I just got my copy in from Amazon, and it's everything I was hoping for! the joints are all nice and tight, without anything being worrisome. The poseability is stellar, and the paintjob is pretty grand. The nosecone tail thing doesn't even bother me now that it's in-hand, which is a very nice surprise. I am gonna have to strip some paint off of Sunbeam's handle as it doesn't want to fit in most 5mm ports, on Needlenose or on other figures. On the same note, be careful folding Needlenose's head into his chest for alt mode as there is clearance but there almost isn't, and his head is painted. I don't want to repeat what happened to my Earthrise Optimus' ear spikes with this guy.

 

Got my copy in. I'd give it a B. A good figure but some questionable design choices. I like the transformation except for robot mode where his cockpit extends downward in the back like he's taking an extra long dump.

It can be folded up without removing the tail fin. Looks awkward but better than the official transformation.

 

I really like this figure, the transformation is surprisingly complex compared to what you’d expect at first glance. The two targetmasters are much better scaled to a deluxe than the Siege Battlemasters and have a lovely retro visual that matches Needlenose himself.

Having seen the leaked listings for the rest of Legacy year 2 deluxes I think this might be an early favorite for me. Maybe Shadow Striker or Bombshell might beat him out, but it’s going to be rough.

 

Needlenose is a really solid Deluxe! Transformation is more complex than it appears, quite a pleasant surprise. The Targetmasters are very charming in their simplicity. And he’s tall! Good stuff.